Album Review: Big Quarters – From The Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers (2009)

Album Review: Big Quarters – From The Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers (2009)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Potholes

Brandon Allday & Medium Zach, the brothers known as Big Quarters, released their first proper effort Cost of Living in 2007.  Little did folks realize how long they had been waiting for that first effort.   2 years down the line however, they give us From The Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers, their sophomore album.

First things first: Medium Zach & Brandon Allday handled every aspect of this record and it definitely shows in the final product, from song conception to end result, they had a hand in it all.  However there are appearances: take for example Mux Mool doing board duty on the summer jam/love anthem “Ladies Know”, and the assist from Kill The Vultures member Crescent Moon on the reflective “Wipe The Dust” (which has stellar production from Brandon Allday), and P.O.S guesting with Alissa Paris on the hook for a spine-tingling experience for  “One on the Lip”. And the pleasant hook provided by Mankwe Ndosi on “Prom Mrs.” elevates an already great jam to a full force banger.   However, speaking of these collaborations alone do not justify Zach or Allday’s natural potential, especially when it comes to the experiences of their rap world on “Barter System”,  “Good Look”, and “Free Shipping”, as well as troubled friendships gone wrong/gun control on “Protection.”

When the brothers are solo, it speaks to their ability as producers and artists respectively.  For example, on the oft-kilter “Firebird”,  Brandon Allday weaves a conversational tale of various stories that begin when he wakes up in the morning on both verses while Medium Zach & Mux Mool provide a very staggered and stuttered backdrom filled with hard hitting drums and soft electric gutiars.   However Medium Zach utilizes the production to be his speaking voice aside from the verses he’s spit: on the track “Can’t Won’t”, which is a simple instrumental that clocks in at a minute and a half, and shows Zach’s ability to layer the multiple textures of his beat to become a woven tapestry that is as sentimental as it is heartfelt.  Also, Zach rides solo on “Blessed,” which is a nicely put vocal and production performance in and of itself.

By the time From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers is over, the track “All Day Long” is what really brings it home.  It’s short and succinct, a tale of 2 brothers who make music talking about their lives and their experiences, and on this song, Brandon is the vocal one, while Zach allows to let the beat speak for itself.  If Cost of Living speaks to their dedication, it is From the home of Brown Babies & White Mothers that is their point being driven home.  Hip-Hop that speaks to the common people, could you ask for more?